


MCU Snippets

by thequeensfan1117



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Multi, What-If, not team Cap friendly, romances will be in the background rather than at the forefront, the post-credits scene at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-08-13 04:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeensfan1117/pseuds/thequeensfan1117
Summary: Just some isolated snippets of how I feel some scenes of the MCU should have gone. Some will call out the characters for their actions, and others will be "fix-its" of sorts.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Days of Reckoning Are Upon Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10953375) by [Ana (Anafandom)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anafandom/pseuds/Ana). 
  * Inspired by [Calling you out!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270659) by [Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs/pseuds/Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs). 
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not intended to outright bash any of the MCU characters. I can't say I'm neutral on the matter of the Civil War; I lean more towards Team Iron Man (hence the tag). While the "not team cap friendly" tag is there (BTW, read all the tags before reading the story), I'll probably wind up redeeming some of its members in later snippets.
> 
> If you have any prompts, please leave a comment below. If you disagree with how a snippet went, feel free to comment. Just remember to be respectful, otherwise I won't even let the comment pass.

1.

“Are you incapable of letting go of your ego for _one goddamn second_?”

Tony let out a snort before he could stop himself. He _was _going to warn Nat that T’Challa reported her deception to, at the very least, his bodyguards. But something else came out.

“You are the _last_ person on this team to comment on anyone’s ego,” he said. “Besides, you didn’t just stab _me _in the back with this stunt, Natasha. You went back on your word to 117 countries.”

If anything, Nat looked even more offended than she had before. She remained silent, however, so he pressed on.

“So, what, Steve’s not gonna stop, right? I’m the one who has to go after him and do right by him when he’s the one who started the fight in the first place?”

“He didn’t, actually,” she said at last. “You didn’t tell us about the Accords. You didn’t tell Wanda _why_ she needed to stay put.”

“And you know what? I own up to that. Just like I owned up to all the weapons Stane sold behind my back and my father’s. Just like I owned up to Ultron -- which, by the way, Bruce also played a role in creating.

But Steve hasn’t owned up to taking all of you to Lagos. Vision heard him give a little speech to Wanda. And in a way, he’s right. The Avengers can’t save every single person on the planet. But we also need to be more careful when it comes to handling the world-saving.

This isn’t about me, or my _ego_, Ms. ‘If You Want to Arrest Me, Arrest Me’. It’s about all the graveyards we’ve filled since 2012 and ones we’ll keep on filling if the Avengers aren’t kept in check.”

Nat opened her mouth to answer, but a beep from Tony’s watch silenced her. She still looked angry at what he’d just said, but this took precedence. Instead, she inclined her head towards the door, signaling that she’d be waiting outside, before walking out of the room.

(Tony and Nat went to the RAFT together while F.R.I.D.A.Y. filled them in on Helmut Zemo’s framing of the Winter Soldier. Nat figured she’d get Steve and Barnes’s location from the others much easier than Tony would, so he let her speak to them. Sam passed the message that Tony was to go alone and as a friend, but Nat wouldn’t let him. Together, they confronted Steve and Barnes.

When the video played and Steve revealed -- after a few stressful minutes of repeating the question -- that he knew about the Starks’ murders, Nat was the one to slap him. She told Tony that they had _both _discovered the truth two years ago, but Steve wanted to be the one to tell him.

“I’m owning up to this,” she said with a slight smirk.

Tony didn’t find the humor in her remark at that moment, but they managed to subdue Zemo, Rogers [not _Steve_. Not anymore] and Barnes with the help of T’Challa. Afterwards, Tony and Nat had a _long_ talk. They decided to start over, with Tony speaking up in Nat’s defense on the matter of her breach of the Accords and Nat working to release their teammates from the RAFT.

It wasn’t perfect [never was in the first place], but the Avengers eventually agreed to split into two separate subdivisions to avoid in-team friction of this scale again. Tony refused to speak to Rogers alone for two long, painful years while he processed the super-solder’s betrayal of all the Starks. Only the arrival of Thanos’s minions on Earth drove him to set the anger aside.)

2.

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?” Thor asked Tony.

“Cheez Whiz?” Rhodey replied.

He wasn’t smiling at his own crack, but the joke was still obvious. Thor pointed in his direction to acknowledge what had just been said, but they all knew he wasn’t going to respond to that. He placed the hand back on Tony’s shoulder, preparing to say something else, but Tony wasn’t about to let it go.

“Rhodey, come on,” he said. “We just lost Nat. Now is not the time to make wisecracks, okay?”

Rhodey raised both of his hands in surrender.

“Besides,” Bruce added, “five years of _believing _your failed to protect everyone you love isn’t funny in the first place.”

Rhodey nodded and slowly approached Thor.

“I’m sorry, man,” he said. “It’s not funny, and I was wrong, trying to minimize what you’ve been going through all these years.”

Thor nodded once, seemingly accepting the apology, and the group as a whole went back to discussing who would be using the gauntlet and undoing all the damage Thanos caused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is relatively short, but these two are the only things I can think of right now. Hopefully, later snippets will be longer.
> 
> Edit to add: This is likely going to be the only time I call out Rhodey in this fic. I do like him and think he's a great character. However, having him minimize Thor's depression by making a joke about his weight was NOT OKAY. 
> 
> Like I have touched on in the comment section, Steve is depressed due to feeling alone in the 21st century with no one familiar to him but Bucky and Peggy (who died in CW). Tony has PTSD symptoms not only from the fall in Avengers 2012, but from Stane's betrayal and, most likely, his kidnapping in Afghanistan as well. We are meant to sympathize with them. Thor was also depressed after Thanos killed Loki and succeeded in wiping out half the world's population while gloating that Thor should have aimed for his head. But we're not meant to sympathize with him like we do with Steve and Tony. No, we're supposed to LAUGH at his depression because he gained weight.
> 
> That is wrong, plain and simple. It minimizes depression that isn't Steve's, all because Steve is still conventionally "attractive", and according to the writers, Thor no longer is. Come on, this is very similar to people on social media calling out Jason Momoa for not having an eight-pack in ONE picture, for God's sake. It's damaging and we have to stop endorsing comments like this in one way or another.
> 
> It was also insensitive on another level. That was not the time to be making jokes, PERIOD. The scene came on the heels of Clint not having the heart to tell the others Natasha had sacrificed herself on Vormir so he could get the Soul Stone and the group holding an informal memorial for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just two more snippets today. After this, updates will be more sporadic as I come up with ideas for snippets.

3.

Bruce had been staying at Tony and Pepper’s lake house for a week when Pepper told him that they would be holding a private memorial. His first instinct was to give Tony’s widow and daughter their privacy; after all, he was painfully aware of his failings as a friend and teammate. He’d been off-planet for four years, for God’s sake! But Pepper would have none of it.

“You had your reasons, Bruce. Tony understood that more than you think. And besides, Morgan wants her new Uncle Hulk with her.”

He’d let out a chuckle. Morgan Stark had been the apple of Tony’s eye ever since she was born. She, in turn, had adored her father and attached herself to him more than to Pepper from the moment she’d been weaned off of her mother’s breast. It was clear that she would grow up to be every bit the genius Tony had been. Her… _awareness_ that something was wrong was proof positive of this fact. The look in her eyes when Pepper was forced to tell her that her father wouldn’t be coming home was just heartbreaking.

He couldn’t leave after that.

“Okay. but only if you’re absolutely sure, Pepper.”

Rhodes had enlisted his help in the garage. Tony had apparently recorded a video will as he was prepared for the worst possible outcome. The problem was that he hadn’t left it in an easy-to-find spot.

“He was too busy looking for Rogers’s shield,” Rhodes said. “Something about not letting Morgan get a hold of it.”

Bruce nodded and began to look through shelves and tabletops. As he did, a renewed feeling of sadness washed over him. He’d already lost the second woman he felt a connection with, and he could neither save her life or undo her death. Now he mourned the loss of his Science Bro (God, why could he only call Tony that when the other man was no longer around?). The Avengers might have beaten Thanos once and for all, but at a heavy price that would weigh on his heart forever.

“I think I found it,” Rhodes called out behind him. “I’ll take it to Pepper.”

The sound of mechanical whirring and heavy footsteps faded, and Bruce was once again alone with his thoughts. That is, until his phone (now Hulk-sized, courtesy of Tony) rang. He looked at the caller ID and hurriedly answered.

“Steve?” he half-whispered.

“Hey, Bruce,” Steve said. “Pepper and Rhodey are holding a memorial for Tony at the lake house. We’re all suiting up, and I was wondering if you’d be able to make it, too.”

_What?_

“Steve, that is a bad idea,” he said. “It’s a private occasion. You shouldn’t crash it.”

He thought he heard a little scoff on the other line.

“Bruce, we’re his family,” Steve replied. “It’s not crashing.”

Bruce suppressed a sigh. It was nearly the same thing Steve had said when Tony asked him if Nat had any family. But…

“Pepper and Rhodes don’t want you there.”

“_What_?” Steve asked. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Steve, are you serious? You beat Tony senseless and left him alone in Siberia -- ”

“That was a long time ago, Bruce,” Steve replied. “And he found his way back to the Compound.”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. Now he understood why Tony had been reluctant to call Steve when he’d first given the warning at Doctor Strange’s sanctum. Steve didn’t seem to get what he’d done.

“He needed Vision to get him,” he said. “And I saw the damage you and Barnes caused to his body when Pepper and Rhodes filled me in.”

“Bruce, he was going to kill Bucky.”

“Because _you didn’t tell him Barnes killed his parents or give him the time to process what HYDRA did_!”

All of a sudden, he felt the anger that had once driven the Hulk on a rampage. He wanted to reach through the line and shake Steve in order to make him understand. Before he or Steve could say another word, however, there was a clatter in the background.

“Steve…” Wanda Maximoff’s voice. “Is that true?”

Wait, he was on speaker this whole time? Why didn’t any of the other Avengers speak up to that point? Bruce chalked it up to Steve being the leader to speak for his team, but still.

“It wasn’t him, Wanda,” Steve said at last. “HYDRA brainwashed him just like they tricked you and your brother.”

Bruce saw red. He had to finish this phone call before anything was smashed or Tony’s family got hurt.

“Okay, I am _not _touching what you said about HYDRA tricking Wanda right now,” he said. “But you know what? Tony was a genius. He would have understood that Barnes wasn’t in control of himself after taking the time to grieve. But you didn’t let him. _Zemo _had to show him a video of what happened. How did you expect him to react?”

Steve was silent. It was as if he’d never even considered that. Bruce took advantage of this stretch of tension.

“I have to go. _Don’t _come to Tony’s memorial.”

(Steve and the others didn’t listen. Bruce and Rhodey turned them away outside while Pepper consoled Morgan and spoke to two teenagers Tony had taken under his wing. To her [very miniscule] credit, Maximoff looked angrier with Steve for deceiving Tony than with Bruce for telling her to leave. The only Avenger who was slightly combative was Barton [that is, until Rhodey told him Pepper knew about his time as Ronin]. After some more pushback, Barnes and Wilson eventually convinced the others to leave before Pepper could get a hold of them.)

4.

Laura hadn’t realized it at first.

Sure, she’d noticed that Clint wasn’t in the bed beside her when she woke up, but her first thought was that he’d gone out to get a head-start on the day’s work. It was only when she’d fed Nate and gotten started on breakfast that Cooper and Lila trudged into the kitchen area looking despondent.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Lila stayed quiet. Her eyes were locked onto the floor, and she made no attempt to look up, so Cooper was the one to tell her the news.

“Dad’s gone.”

That startled her.

“What?”

“He’s not here,” Lila said at last. “We looked all over for him ‘cause he was gonna take us water-skiing today.”

Laura couldn't believe her ears. Had Clint up and left them _in the middle of the night_? When did he decide that retirement wasn’t good enough, that his family wasn’t good enough for him? A rush of emotions flowed throughout her body. Anger at him for leaving them so suddenly. Worry that something had come up and the Avengers needed him back in the game. Confusion as to why he couldn’t have just sat her down and told her what was going on. Sadness toward the two children standing in front of her who didn’t understand their father’s action.

She shifted Nate a bit.

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. Go into the other room -- Coop, take your brother with you -- and I’ll make you something to eat. Then we go from there. How does that sound?”

Lila nodded slowly and shuffled out of the room. Cooper eyed Nate a bit before doing as he was told.

*

She tried to raise her kids’ spirits for the next few days to no avail. Cooper and Lila had seen the footage of Clint, along with Captain America and a few others, fighting Nat, Iron Man, and their side. Laura didn’t completely understand what was going on, but it was clear that the Avengers were no longer together as they had been a week ago. They didn’t understand it fully, but Laura did. However, she didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth.

Clint was hampering the arrest of James Buchanan Barnes, the prime suspect of the bombing of a United Nations embassy in Vienna. This put him in direct conflict with his best friend among the Avengers, and Laura was half-tempted to call Nat and ask her what the hell her husband had been thinking. But she wouldn’t, couldn’t face the truth.

Clint was now a criminal. A _fugitive_, actually; the most recent news reports revealed that Tony Stark was in critical condition at a Russian hospital while Captain America had gone on the run and broken the criminal “ex-Avengers” out of a high-security prison. Laura had to sit down and take a few deep breaths in order to process this new information. What was she going to tell the kids?

(When Clint finally returned in the middle of the night, Laura refused to wake the kids and let him see them. She was too angry with her husband, especially with how oblivious he seemed to be. As she’d harshly pointed out to him, he hadn’t gone to save the world from a new threat; he helped a man who, for all he knew, was a criminal. Clint seemed to realize that he fucked up, especially when she told him Tony was liable to die partly because of him. He apologized profusely, but Laura stood her ground. Clint would either have to truly commit to retirement and work his ass off to make this up to the kids under house arrest, or he would have to leave and live the life of a fugitive assassin. Even though Clint chose the former, Laura wasn’t convinced that he’d really change and asked Pepper Potts to refer her to a divorce lawyer just in case.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For #3, I'm going with a personal headcanon of Bruce keeping in touch with Tony during the five-year timeskip because in the actual movie, the scene where Steve, Natasha, and Scott try to convince him to go along with their "Time Heist" looks like they just went to him because they needed something from him. And for #4, I'm running with the idea that Clint didn't consult Laura before running off (since nothing in canon seems to indicate that he did so in the first place, except the line about him disappointing his kids). 
> 
> The Infinity War prelude comic shows him and Scott returning straight to their families from the RAFT rather than staying in Wakanda with Bucky, which sparked the idea for #4. I might incorporate more of the tie-in comics in future snippets.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more (probably) moderately-sized snippets. Progress is slow, but I'm hoping to use NaNoWriMo to both work on a new project and get more of this out there.

5.

“Sir, Doctor Banner has arrived,” J.A.R.V.I.S announced.

Tony willed his hands to stop working.

“Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S. Tell him I’ll be right up.”

Bruce’s phone call and desire to catch up with Tony was an extremely good thing. He needed to _vent_. This whole Killian ordeal was a complete mess, and even after the destruction of the Iron Legion and his surgery, Tony wasn’t sure he’d made the right choice. As someone who wasn’t there when this all went down, Bruce would hopefully be a voice of reason and tell him what his next logical step should be. Even on the off-chance that the other man wouldn’t be of much help to him (Tony knew he wasn’t _that_ kind of doctor), just the act of getting his issues off his chest was supposed to be therapeutic. And of course, he and Bruce had some sciencing and more general catching up to do since it had been so long since they’d last seen each other face to face.

Tony exited the lab and cleaned himself up as best he could before joining Bruce upstairs. The other man had cut his curly hair shorter; it was likely to keep himself cooler in the Middle East, but he looked good. He smiled and was about to greet Bruce, but Bruce beat him to it.

“Tony! Are you okay?”

He almost did a double-take. Unless their names were Pepper, Rhodey, or Happy, he could easily count the number of people who asked about his well-being without prompting on one hand.

“Heya, Bruce.” He tried for casual, but he was sure it fell flat. “Everybody’s alright. No need to worry.”

Bruce gave him a _look_ before speaking again.

“Tony. It was all over the news. You don’t have to pretend there was no harm done.”

Tony opened his mouth to reply (Bruce had a point, but it was the principle of the playful argument), but a good look at Bruce’s face squashed down his quip. The man struggled to keep his eyes open, and the dark circles underneath were more pronounced than usual.

“You don’t sleep okay on planes?” he asked. “I _did _get you first class to make it a bit easier.”

“Tony, first class doesn’t make jet lag go away. I slept a little, but it wasn’t exactly refreshing,” Bruce replied.

Tony nodded and clapped once.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., is Bruce’s floor set up?” he asked.

“Affirmative, sir.”

“‘Kay, here’s what we’re gonna do. _You _are gonna go up there and get some shut-eye. I don’t care if you sleep until morning.”

“Sir, I believe you giving Doctor Banner this particular instruction is comparable to throwing a stone in a glass house,” J.A.R.V.I.S. pointed out.

Tony rolled his eyes, but said nothing to his traitorous AI as he ushered Bruce to his lodgings.

(Unbeknownst to Tony, he’d just averted a break in trust. Without sleep, Bruce’s jet lag would have caused him to doze off near the beginning of Tony’s story. And yes, Bruce insisted on paying Tony back for the grossly unnecessary first-class ticket. Tony reluctantly agreed in order to give his newly-christened “Science Bro” some peace of mind.)

6.

Tony had been up for hours working on how to word a clause in the Accords that would pave the way for rights for Enhanced. For a moment, he’d had half a mind to call Vision and check how Wanda was doing, but that would likely not be appreciated. Despite Steve’s assertions and ideals, she wasn’t a little kid. She didn’t need babysitting in the traditional sense of the word; her house arrest was a completely different can of worms. Besides, he noticed the way she and Vision would sneak glances at each other when they thought nobody else was looking. So he left the bulk of the duty to Vision (though he wasn’t quite sure Wanda understood that she wasn’t meant to leave until the Lagos nightmare completely blew over.

“Boss?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. called out. “I’m sorry to bother you, but Mister Barton is on the line for you.”

“At this hour? Shouldn’t he be asleep or preparing for Dad-time with the little agents?” Tony wondered aloud. “Whatever, put him through.”

He spoke again when F.R.I.D.A.Y. complied. “Hey, Clint, what’s up?”

“Hey, Tony,” came the reply. “I tried Nat, but all I got was a busy signal, so I’m calling you. Anyway, Steve just called. Everything okay with Wanda?”

Clint got to the point and his tone wasn’t accusatory, but Tony knew he’d been fairly protective of Wanda since Ultron and Pietro’s deaths. He figured he should choose his words carefully.

“She’s fine. I just asked Vision to stay with her at the Compound and make sure she keeps her head down.”

He didn’t want to mention the part where he didn’t want her to leave just yet.

“Huh. That’s it? Steve made it sound like you had her locked up in some cell. And this is about the bomb that killed all those people in Lagos, right?”

Tony found himself nodding despite knowing Clint couldn’t see him. “Bingo. Her visa’s still not finalized, so she’s in danger of being deported if things get worse.”

“Shit,” Clint said, then added, “Hey, Nate. Don’t make that your first word, ‘kay? Your mommy will have my head.”

Tony couldn’t keep himself from chuckling.

“Sorry about that. Nate’s not doing so hot, so he hasn’t been able to sleep. Dunno if we can take him water-skiing with Coop and Lila tomorrow.”

There was a brief lull where Tony could clearly hear the Littlest Agent fussing and Clint trying to soothe him. He was thankful that the conversation had been going well so far; after all, Clint had been right there with the other Avengers blaming Tony for Ultron and welcoming Wanda with open arms despite everything she’d done.

“Actually, I have another question now that I think about it. Why are we letting Steve, Barnes and Wilson handle the Winter Soldiers alone?”

_Wait…_

“I mean, couldn’t Barnes turn back into the Winter Soldier and join the others?” Clint continued. “But you have Vision with Wanda, and who knows what Nat is doing.”

“What Winter Soldiers?” Tony asked.

“Huh?”

“Clint, I swear to you, this is the first I’m hearing about other Winter Soldiers besides the Barnesicle.”

“... that is _not _what Steve said. At all.”

(Tony told Clint what had gone on earlier in the day and that Steve, in no way, had even mentioned any other Winter Soldier during their last conversation. He advised the other man to call Wanda and Vision at the Compound to speak to her. Clint took him up on that, and was more understanding than Steve had been when Vision explained that it would be best if Wanda not leave the Compound until Tony could straighten everything out on her behalf. Because Clint realized that Steve lied to both of them, he came to the conclusion that Cap was compromised, and as such, didn’t leave his family to break Wanda out when Tony hadn’t locked her up.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm going with "Bruce was jet lagged" rather that "Bruce was bored" for the first snippet here.
> 
> As always, comments and ideas for prompts are welcomed!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NaNo is kicking my ass! I am so far behind, and I have to get in gear for that.
> 
> Here are two Bruce-centered snippets for you guys today.

7.

(Note: the dialogue up until “He’s evolving” is canon.)

“Okay, guys, could we table this discussion right now?” Bruce asked.

Tony and Strange were still locked in some sort of standoff. Thanos’s arrival had him more on edge than usual. This had to stop.

“The fact is that we have _this_ stone,” he continued, gesturing toward Strange’s locket. “We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone, and we have to find him _now_.”

Tony ducked his head and looked away sheepishly. “Yeah, that's the… thing.”

Bruce focused his gaze onto Tony. “What do you mean?”

“Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder,” Tony said. “He's offline.”

With that, Tony began to walk away from the weird pot he’d been leaning by. Bruce couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

“_What?_” he exclaimed. “Tony, you lost another super-bot?”

“I didn't _lose_ him,” Tony replied. “He's more than that. He's evolving, and by the way, that first super-bot you’re referring to had better not be Ultron.”

Bruce noted Strange and Wong’s looks of exasperation. He was just about to ignore them and respond, but Tony pushed on.

“If I recall correctly, you _helped _me with that project because he was never meant to be a murderous super-bot. He was supposed to warn us about Thanos!”

“Tony, I get that—” Bruce started, but Tony cut him off.

“No, Bruce! If you really _got that_, you would have been here when the world put me on trial for Ultron’s creation. I understand you _needed _to get away from Maximoff after what she did to you in Johannesburg. Really, I do. But I needed you, too!”

Bruce was at a loss for words. He wanted to tell Tony about the years on Sakaar, but that would have been a flimsy excuse even to him. The point was that he’d let Tony down too many times already after the man opened his home to a virtual stranger in 2012. 

“Stark,” Strange cut in. “I _really _doubt this is what Banner meant when he said ‘table this discussion,’ so can you get back to this later?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I said my piece anyway.”

Bruce shook his head.

“Tony… I was wrong, all right? I shouldn’t have said that,” he said.

Tony sighed. “We’re talking about this later, Brucie.”

8.

“Do you really have to go into hiding again?” Tony asked.

It was all but a plea coming from his mouth, and Bruce understood why. Steve had pushed for _Wanda Maximoff_, of all people, to become a full-time Avenger. He’d just brushed hers and Pietro’s attacks on the team (and his own attack on Tony while Vision was being created) in order to give the crazy witch a ‘second chance’. Sure, they needed a replacement for Barton, but surely Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. could secure somebody else. He wanted to ask Natasha why they didn’t, but looking at her now _hurt_.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” he said at last. “I can’t stay here. I can’t… what if she turns on us?”

Tony’s new AI—he’d called her F.R.I.D.A.Y.—piped up just then.

“Boss wouldn’t let anything happen, Doctor Banner,” she spoke.

Her Irish lilt was still difficult to get used to after two years of hearing J.A.R.V.I.S.’s soothing British accent (which _did _live on in Vision, but it just wasn’t the same).

“She’s right, Brucie,” Tony said. “Wanda won’t get in your head again if she _does _turn. Besides, she and Pietro blamed _me _for everything, right? Who’s to say I won’t be her first target?”

If that was meant to reassure Bruce, it didn’t work. Tony’s self-deprecation was his most concerning quality.

“Tony… I _can’t _stay on the team. It’s too risky. Besides, Vision and Rhodes will be able to do the heavy lifting.”

Hulk raged at him for that, but it was the truth—

_HULK NO WANT TO LEAVE, BANNER!_

The sudden outburst jarred him. Hulk didn’t really yell at him that often. Tony must have noticed some change in expression; he took a few steps forward.

“You okay?” he asked.

Bruce nodded. “Yeah. Hulk is just objecting.”

Tony took a long look at him. He longed to know what his friend was thinking. In fact, he was so preoccupied with it, he didn’t notice Rhodes walking up to them until the latter spoke up.

“If that’s the case, why don’t you listen to him?” Rhodes asked. “I know you might still be worried about Ross, too, but we’ve got your back there as well.”

Bruce jumped at the voice, making Tony chuckle a bit.

“Give him a warning next time, Platypus,” he said. “But yes, I am one hundred percent in agreement with Rhodey on this. We’ll make sure Ross can’t touch you.”

If Bruce was entirely honest with himself, Ross hadn’t really factored into his decision. But it was still one more weight off his chest. He sighed.

“Alright, Tony. You win,” he said softly.

(Bruce requested that the Avengers not be made aware of his decision to stay at the Tower—a much easier accomplishment now that the team was staying at the newly-created Avengers Compound. Rhodes would keep his mouth shut whenever Natasha or Steve would make a pointed reference to Tony’s ability to find him. Two years later, when the Sokovia Accords came into the picture, Bruce would stay right where he was and support Tony’s push for accountability [though both he and the Hulk growled at Ross sticking himself into the situation for his own ends].)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will still come despite the above note. I'm not giving up on this project, though I _am_ considering doing an overhaul of everything I've written so far.


End file.
